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Fun Day 2015 injuries (data on medical assist calls provided by the Office of Campus Safety):
11 Medical Assist Calls
6 ambulance transports and 1 campus safety transport.
4 ambulance transports because of intoxication.
1 transport because of head trauma.
1 transport because of a head injury.
1 transport because of a sprained ankle.
By Billie Kanfer, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Update: The Lieutenant Robert H. Jillson of the Saratoga Police Department provided a statement:
This morning, at about 12:40 am, campus safety called us about a car (an Acura SUV) that had struck a utility pole on Perimeter Road. The collision was strong enough to cause airbag deployment in the car. Initial reports were that the driver was seen running from the scene.
Campus safety and police were not able to locate the student whose car it is believed to be. It is also believed that this student resides on campus.
There was damage to both the vehicle and utility pole.
At approximately 12:30 a.m Friday, April 24th a loud crashing noise occurred outside of lower Sussman A. After going outside, it was discovered that a car had barreled over the steel barrier along the Sussman entrance path and was stuck on top of the barrier. Three male students exited the car. They proceeded to rev the engine and attempt to reverse off the barrier. To no avail, the car tilted forward over the barrier and remained stuck. The three male students proceeded to flee the scene before campus safety officers arrived at around 12:45 a.m. Two police cars also arrived at the scene at this time.
Two students identified as friends of the suspected driver were also at the scene shortly later. When asked for comment, the two students reported that officers had identified the suspected driver by the car’s license plate number and were searching for him.
By 1:10 a.m a tow truck arrived to pull the car away from the crash site. After many attempts, the car was finally dislodged from the barrier and towed away. The Skidmore News has reached out to campus safety and the Saratoga Police Department for comment and will update this article with any news.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
On Monday April 20, the Task Force on Divestment released their final report (phase two) that outlines their recommendation on the issue of fossil fuel divestment. The task force is made up of three faculty members, three staff, three students and one trustee. The original goal of the task force was to “upon completion of its work, to issue a report to the Board of Trustees and the Skidmore College community, understanding that any recommendations would not be binding upon the Trustees or the Administration.”
Jim Kennely, the chair of the task force, wrote in an email to the Skidmore community on April 20, “we believe our recommendations to be both financially prudent and consistent with our institutional values; we have every reason to believe that they will be carefully considered by the Board at its May meetings.”
The recommendation from the task force that is written in the phase two report is “we advise against divestment.” Phase two goes on to say that they recommend Skidmore not divest “not because we disagree with the goals of the divestment movement—but because of what we understand to be the uncertainty and financial risks associated with full divestment.”
Though the task force recommended against divestment early in the report, they also wrote about how they think this is not all Skidmore should do. “We also believe that a simple rejection of divestment is insufficient and not in accordance with Skidmore’s espoused values with regard to sustainability, civic engagement, and our educational mission,” as written in the phase two report.
With this in mind the report has a list of six recommendations that the task force recommends for Skidmore. The six recommendations are as follows:
“1. Skidmore College should make an explicit commitment that it will not purchase or hold any equity or debt issued by companies on the Carbon Underground 200 List in its direct holdings.
2. Reallocate approximately 4% of the endowment to fossil-free or sustainable and clean tech investment funds on a test basis, increasing this allocation over time if performance merits it; additionally, provide potential donors with the opportunity to direct their contributions to such fossil-free and sustainable investment choices.
3. Collaborate with other comparable institutions of higher education to influence and/or accelerate the creation of high performance, professionally managed, fossil-free and/or sustainable portfolios that will generate acceptable “alphas” and more generally expand the universe of fossil-free and/or sustainable investment options that are available to Skidmore and other institutions.
4. Explicitly encourage our 40-50 investment managers to reduce or eliminate their holdings of fossil fuel investments to the greatest extent possible, consistent with financial realities and prudence, and clearly articulate to our investment managers our interest in moving towards a fossil-free portfolio.
5. Acknowledge the linkage between Skidmore’s investment portfolio and its institutional values, and amend Skidmore’s existing Investment Policy so that it incorporates these values.
6. If these recommendations are endorsed, they should be incorporated into the annual Strategic Action Agenda and a review of our progress in achieving them should be conducted on an annual basis by an appropriate group determined by the President.”
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
Saratoga Springs was recently ranked 7th on the list of the 20 Best College Towns for Food in America, an article written by Nikkitha Bakshani ’12. The article was published in The Daily Meal on April 15, 2015. It was an update to an article written in 2011 10 College Towns with the Best Food. Saratoga Springs did not make the original list of the top 10. “The easy and most truthful reason is probably that it is because I didn't write that list,” said Bakshani, when asked why Saratoga Springs didn’t make the original list of the top 10.
The new 20 towns contain many from the top 10 “because research shows us that the towns we chose back then have culinary scenes that have stayed strong. Many have become even stronger with the addition of more ethical coffee shops and farm-to-table restaurants,” wrote Bakshani in the 20 Best College Towns for Food in America article. Bakshani also wrote that the other new towns on the list were chosen “by examining the Spoon University website to find out what the student favorites were among the many colleges and universities that the website covers. After cross-referencing them with reviews from food critics and customers, we settled on our final 20.”
In the slideshow of the top 20 towns Saratoga Springs’ description is the following.
Picturesque Saratoga Springs, with its Revolutionary War aesthetic, had a thriving culinary scene even before Skidmore College became one of the most well-known liberal arts schools in the country, with charmingly old school Mrs. London’s (and now, her hip brother next door, Max London’s). Fair trade coffee shops, like Uncommon Grounds and Saratoga Coffee Traders, are where you’ll see most students when they’re not studying in the library. Caroline Street is bustling with bars that are packed with college students and locals alike. If you are looking to get away from the summer crowds that come in with horse racing season, drive or take a Saratoga Taxi further out to pizza place Harvest and Hearth or English pub The Local. And, of course, no trip to Saratoga is complete without two things: a black raspberry softie from Dairy Haus and a doughboy (chicken, cheese, and scallions baked in just-browned pizza dough) from Esperanto, which is rumored to have been invented by a Skidmore professor.
When Bakshani was asked what she felt made Saratoga Springs deserving of being on the list and number seven she talked about her own experiences being a Skidmore student and said, “I know some of the best memories I had were eating food off-campus with my friends and classmates. If it were entirely up to me, I'd make it number one, but unfortunately, I couldn't let my own biases get ahead of me.” Some of the reasons why she also thought it deserved number seven opposed to a higher number was because “while the food in Saratoga is excellent, a lot of it is very pricey and not entirely friendly to a student budget, which is as essential to college town food as the food itself. Also, since many very good restaurants in Saratoga are not walking distance from campus, I had to factor that in as well,” Bakshani said.
When Bakshani was asked if she felt there was anything else important for readers to know she said, “I think the most important thing to know is that while the food on Broadway is great, there is plenty of great food outside of it, like The Iron Roost in Ballston Spa, Van's in Albany, and Harvest and Hearth.”
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
As May 1 comes around high school seniors all over the world are deciding where they will spend the next four years of their life. On March 24, Skidmore College’s admissions office mailed out the regular decision acceptance letters. In total (after both Early Decision I, Early Decision II and Regular Decision) Skidmore ended up accepting approximately 3,000 students, and 36 percent of the class 2019 applicants. This is a slightly smaller percentage than last year’s acceptance rate of 37 percent or just over 3,200 accepted students.
The reason Skidmore is accepting 200 fewer students is not because of the fact that application numbers were down this year by 1.7 percent. Last year was the biggest year in history for the total number of applications with a total of about 8,700. This year fewer than 8,500 applied, but this is still the second largest number of applications Skidmore has ever received.
The reason that fewer students were accepted this year is because, “we were looking for a slightly smaller class. Our target is 660-670 enrolled students and that includes 38-40 that will potentially be going to London for the London Program,” said Dean Mendes, Associate Director of Admissions. The current freshman class, class of 2018, has 728 students.
Last year’s class was larger then anticipated because of the number of students who ended up deciding to accept Skidmore’s offer of admission. “Because the yield was higher last year, and we had 728, we overspent on our financial aid” said Mendes. Due to this Skidmore has fewer financial aid dollars to spend this year, and therefore is looking to enroll a smaller freshman class in the fall. “Its hard to project yield,” said Mendes but last year the yield was 22.49 percent and based on the yield for last year and the previous couple of years the admissions office is hoping this year to yield about 25 percent. President Glotzbach in a meeting with The Skidmore News also emphasized, “we are trying to increase the yield.”
During the application process Skidmore saw a couple of national trends apparent in the application pool. First, there is a higher demand for financial aid. Second, the number of international applications increased. International students made up 22 percent of the applications this year and 14 percent of the admitted students are international students. Skidmore’s international applications are going up a little higher than the national trend as the admissions office is doing a lot of work to recruit more international students. The third trend that the admissions office noticed is that California has been one of the states they get the most applications from. “It’s the third largest state for us for applications even though it’s one of the farthest away,” said Mendes.
Now that acceptance letters have been sent out, Skidmore is working on yielding the accepted students. To help with yielding the accepted students, Skidmore hosted three accepted candidates days, and they hosted a Discovery Tour.
The Discovery Tour brought 136 students from underrepresented backgrounds to campus from April 8 to April 10. This included students from 24 different states, including Puerto Rico and some international students, including one from China, Serbia and South Africa. The student from China and Serbia were in school in the U.S. and the student from South Africa was out of school and in California, making it practical for Skidmore to bring them to campus.
The primary set of students who are invited to attend the Discovery Tour are those who are from underrepresented minority populations and those whose financial aid application suggests that they would most likely not be able to visit without financial support. Thus, “we fund them to visit,” said Mendes. Some international students from Canada, Mexico and Central America are also invited “because they are closer and it is affordable to fly those folks here,” Mendes also said.
Offering the Discovery tour fits in line with part of Skidmore’s “goal to have a diverse and inclusive campus, and to also provide opportunities for people to visit campus who might not be able to visit campus” said Mendes. During the program students spend two and half days and two nights on campus. For the two nights on campus they stay in the dorm of current student to help give them the full college experience. Many of the current students who hosted students were past Discovery Tour participants. “I had a pretty good experience and I wanted to help make another students experience just as great if not better,” said past Discovery Tour participant Maria Glander ’18, when asked why she decided to host a Discovery Tour student.
As part of the program they get to meet with faculty outside of classes, attended classes, have dinner with the president and other faculty as well as get to meet other current students and accepted students. These activities help the students to get a feel for Skidmore. Genesis Moran Guerrero ’18 was a part of the Discovery Tour program last year, and when she originally came for the program she was set on a different school, but the program made her realize, as she described it, that Skidmore felt “felt friendlier,” and ultimately this helped her to decide to attend Skidmore. For Glander on the other hand, what helped her ultimately decide on Skidmore was hearing “first hand a current student's experience at Skidmore and see[ing] it truly from their view.”
Skidmore is not unique in offering a program like the Discovery Tour, “I would say that just about all of our peer institutions and non peer institutions will run these types of programs,” said Mendes. The program offered at Skidmore does though have some unique aspects. “Ours is by far the largest of the liberal arts in the north east and that is basically because the administration supports us in inviting all these students and paying the fair to get them here,” said Mendes.
“Between the three accepted candidates days and discovery [tour], so the programs that we have had, almost 700 students will have visited this [April] month,” said Mendes. A couple hundred more accepted students also will visit Skidmore on their own and not as part of a program.
Accepted students who visit campus have a higher chance of yielding. In previous years, Skidmore has yielded about 60-72 percent of the Discovery Tour participants, and the admissions office is hoping to get in this ballpark once again. Last year 54 percent of students who came for an accepted candidates day ended up enrolling and 60 percent of students who came for Discovery Tour enrolled. Now the admissions office is in a waiting period as they wait for the May 1 deadline and they can see the exact number of students yielded.
Friday April. 10
College Violation Noise Howe Hall 2:10AM: RP reports people being loud in common area. Officers dispatched, gone upon arrival.
Harassment Wiecking Hall 4:00PM: RP stated student made threatening remarks via text messages. Report generated.
Fire Alarm Other Cane Crossing 11:01PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking.
College Violation Noise McClellan Hall 10:30PM: RP reports a noise complaint. Units dispatched, students complied.
Saturday April. 11
College Violation Noise Sussman Apartments 12:18AM: RP reports noise complaint. Officers dispatched, report gathering and dispersed.
Fire Alarm Other Sussman Apartments 4:23AM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking.
Driving While Intoxicated North Broadway 5:40AM: RP reports car on sidewalk on North Broadway. Officer dispatched, SSPD notified. Report generated.
Parking Issue South Park 2:37PM: Officers observe vehicle driving on the sidewalk. Officers stopped the vehicle and advised subjects to leave campus due to no affiliation with the college. Complied, report generated.
Criminal Mischief Kimball Hall 11:10PM: RP reports observing an exit sign broken. Report generated.
Criminal Mischief Wait Hall 11:10PM: RP reports observing an exit sign broken. Report generated.
Sunday April. 12
College Violation Moore Way 12:16 AM --Noise complaint received. Disp. Officers who report finding a gathering which was dispersed.
College Violation of Alcohol Policy 12:24 AM: RP confiscated a bottle of alcohol from a student. Officers dispatched. RP further states subject received food but did not pay for it. Subject later identified.
Suspicious Activity Kimball Hall 4:10am: RP states unknown person is throwing items at the window. Disp. Officer who reports locating a non-student attempting to get the attention of a friend. Advised to cease and complied without further incident. Friend could not be located at this time.
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 01:30 pm - RP reports a suspicious odor. Disp. Officer who was unable detect any odor upon his arrival. Report made.
Monday April. 13
Fire Drills Campus Wide 08:26 pm: Fire alarm activations received from various residential halls in compliance with New York State Fire Alarm Requirements.
Tuesday April. 14
Property Damage North Hall Lot 08:05 am - RP reports a vehicle was damaged. Officer dispatched. Report made.
Drug Law Violation McClellan Hall 11:40 am - Officer witnessed student smoking an illegal substance. Report made.
Suspicious Odor Wiecking Hall 1:16pm: RP states there is a suspicious odor at the front entrance. Disp. Officer who reports unable to locate the odor at this time.
Suspicious Odor Wiecking Hall 3:30 pm: A suspicious odor was reported. Disp. Officer who reports Facilities Services personnel on site to rectify and will call if further assistance is needed.
Suspicious Odor Case Center 06:23 PM: RP reports a gas odor. Disp. Officers and Maintenance who report the odor is coming in from the bus in the lot through the intake. Maintenance to re-check area periodically.
Wednesday April. 15
Drug Law Violation Wilmarth Hall 1:50 AM Officers report drug law violation. Report made.
College Violation Noise Pennfield Hall 11:26 PM: RP called for a noise complaint. Disp. Officer who reports speaking with students who stated that they would quiet down.
Thursday Aprl. 16
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 8:15 PM: RP called to report an odor. Disp. Officers who report source could not be located.
Welfare Checks Jonsson Tower 08:46 PM: RP requests a message be delivered to his daughter to call him. Disp. Officer who reports the student states that she just spoke with her father.
Fire Alarm Accidental Sussman Apartments 09:14 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Disp. all Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Steam from shower set off the alarm.
Suspicious Odor Wait Hall 11:17 PM: RP reports suspicious odor. Disp. Officer who reports detecting an odor; however, subjects GOA.
Fire Non Residental 11:36 PM: RP called to report a fire under the walkway in Sussman Village. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Officer reports leaves were on fire but were quickly extinguished.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
On Tuesday, April 7, the Student Government Association (SGA) made a final decision on if the Polo Club would lose their funding or not. “After almost six full months of review, Senate was able to make a final decision in consultation with team members, alums, and everyone else involved,” said SGA President Addison Bennett ’16. The members of the SGA senate voted unanimously in support of a final Polo Club decision. The main points of the decision are generally the same as the SGA proposal Polo Club proposal from before spring break, but a few changes have been made.
At the SGA senate meeting on April 7, Sam Harris ’15, SGA Vice President for Financial Affairs, said in summary of the proposal, “we will continue to support the team with $30,000 per year during the club’s transition to a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. If the club goes over this budget Mr. Orthwein will cover all costs incurred. SGA will also establish a contingency fund, but if these funds are dipped into and not paid back by the end of the year the club will be dechartered.” Megan Schachter ’17 SGA Vice President for Club Affairs then followed by saying, “four years from now, the club’s endowment must increase to so that each fiscal year they will receive about $15,000 per year from the endowment.”
The final decision includes the following:
“I'm proud we were able to come to this compromise agreement, and while it's not everything both sides wanted, I believe it's a sustainable solution that gives both sides what they want in the end,” Bennett said.
The Polo club president, Bill Miller ’15, said in response to the decision, “it was a long process but we're ecstatic to have come to a working solution with the Student Government. We feel that this proposal will ensure a strong, sustainable future for our club as we grow both our competitive and instructional programs. It is an honor to leave the club in a positive light after I graduate, and I am looking forward to watching its success in the coming years.”
As the votes came in from SGA during their April 7 session, Skidmore Polo posted to their Facebook page: “the votes are in! Skid Polo lives on.”
Friday April. 3
Suspicious Activity Palamountain 10:30AM: RP reports backpack laying on floor. Officer dispatched. Item was found property and returned to owner.
Accident Sports Center Lot 11:32AM: RP reports vehicle damaged in parking lot Officer dispatched, report generated.
Harassment Rounds Hall 4:40PM: RP reports that student was aggressive during interview regarding college violations. Report generated.
Accident Clinton St. 4:57PM: RP reports male hit by a vehicle while riding his bicycle. Units dispatched, report generated.
Welfare Checks Jonsson Tower 5:04PM: RP requests a welfare check on student. Student located and all is well.
Suspicious Activity Wiecking Hall 9:38PM: Officer reports students outside the building acting strange. Officer reports two females with a bat in a box. Bat transported to North Country Wildlife for assessment.
Saturday April. 4
Moving Violations Perimeter Road 12:53AM: Officer reports observing a taxi traveling at excessive speed and run a stop sign. Report generated.
Vehicle Towing Case Center 2:36AM: Officers report vehicle with excess tickets parked illegal. Towing company notified, report generated.
Criminal Mischief Kimball Hall 11:00AM: RP reports words written on wall. Officer dispatched, photographs taken and report generated.
Criminal Mischief Wiecking Hall 1:00PM: RP reports exit sign torn down in building. Officer dispatched, report generated.
Moving Violations Sussman Apartments 1:54PM: Officer observed a vehicle driving the wrong way. Vehicle ticketed, report generated.
Campus Safety Assist Kimball Hall 10:58PM: RP reports finding a student in a vacant
room. When asked to leave student complied. Res Life to document.
Sunday April. 5
Moving Violation Perimeter Road/ Clinton Street Entrance 1:13am: RP reports observing a taxi cab go through the stop sign. Drover stopped and advised his actions were unacceptable.
Suspicious Activity Tang Teaching Museum 7:19 PM: RP reports seeing people on the roof. Disp. Officer reports the subjects ran away as the officer approached.
Fire Alarm Cane Crossing 7:32 PM: Fire alarm activation. Disp. All Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Alarm caused by cooking.
Monday April. 6
Criminal Mischief Tang Teaching Museum 8:10am: RP reports there are chips in the glass. Disp. Officer who reports there are small chips in the glass but the glass is not broken. Report and photos taken.
Criminal Mischief Starbuck Center 8:52am: RP reports the window on the second floor of Starbuck Center has been broken. Disp. Officer who reports finding that the outer pane on the window has been broken. Officer took photos of the damage and report has been made.
Drug Law Violation Cane Crossing 10:59AM: RP reports found marijuana in pill bottle. Officer dispatched, report generated.
Contraband Confiscation North Woods 12:04PM: RP found items in rooms. Items confiscated. Report generated.
Drug Law Violation Cane Crossing 1:32PM: RP advises marijuana was found. Item confiscated. Report generated.
Suspicious Activity Tang Teaching Museum 6:40 PM: Officer requested a subject get off the roof. Subject complied.
Fire Alarm 8:28am: Fire alarm activated. Disp. Officers and Maintenance and advised SSFD. Alarm caused by cooking.
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 10:07 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor. Disp. Officers report that a slight odor was detected but source could not be located.
Tuesday April. 7
Suspicious Activity Case Center 12:53 AM: RP reports homeless people sleeping outside of Case. Dispatched Officers who reports students on Case green raising awareness for homeless. Students told to disperse.
Suspicious Activity Tang Teaching Museum 12:53 AM: RP reports homeless people sleeping outside of Case. Dispatched Officers who reports students on Case green raising awareness for homeless. Students told to disperse.
Wednesday April. 8
No reportable Clery Act incidences recorded on this date.
Thursday Aprl. 9
Fire Alarm Other Sussman Apartments 10:01PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking. Report generated.
Fire Alarm McClellan Hall 10:09PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking. Report generated.
College Violation Noise Whitman Way 10:09PM: RP reports noise complaint. Officers dispatched, could not locate violation.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
This semester there will be no spring Big Show like Skidmore had in the fall and has had in springs of years past. In the fall, Chance the Rapper performed at the Big Show put on by the Student Entertainment Committee (SEC). Though some students might think it is only a rumor that there is no Big Show, this is indeed correct. “There is indeed no Big Show this semester,” said Jeff Sadueste ’15, president of SEC.
The decision not to have a Big Show this semester was made with consideration for a lot of different factors. “After polling the student body and hearing everyone's suggestions over the years, it was obvious that the majority of people wanted bigger names then we brought in the past,” Sadueste said. In order to be able to do this SEC had to spend more money. SEC did this in the fall by bringing in Chance the Rapper, and this took up a lot of the SEC yearly budget.
Another reason that led SEC to make this decision is the fact that “it is much harder to book a band in the spring than it is in the fall,” said Sadueste. This is due to a few reasons. First, many of the groups that SEC could potentially bring to campus are busy performing at music festivals, such as Coachella, that generally happen in March and April. Second, it is very hard to book the gym as sports teams and clubs have priority. With this in mind SEC was given only one free Saturday for a potential Big Show. It then becomes very difficult to find a band worth bringing in that is also free on the one Saturday the gym is available.
“After Fall Fun day was discontinued, I think a lot of people looked to Big Show as the big event of the fall semester; because of this we booked a larger show in the fall,” said Sadueste. In the spring though there are lots of other events that take place. These events include Earth Day, Spring Fling and Fun Day.
“In lieu of a Big Show we used the remainder of our budget to book larger acts than usual for Falstaffs and Earth Day,” Sadueste said. SEC is working with WSPN and Lively Lucy’s to bring in eight bands for Earth Day. These bands are YACHT, Evolfo Doofeht, Tops, Modern Vices, Quarterbacks, Future of What, Free Cake for Every Creature, and a student band.
“I'm not saying this is the way the club will operate in the future but we wanted to experiment with a larger show to see the response; the fact that last year's show was the first one ever to sell out makes me confident that it was a good idea to do so,” Sadueste said. He also said, “I think as long as we continue to bring well-known and well-respected bands to campus, and use our budget wisely, this "one Big Show a year" model is not a bad option.”
Friday March. 27
College Violation Noise Sussman Apartments 12:45pm: RP reports very loud noise. Officers spoke with resident.
Criminal Mischief Wilmarth Hall 2:15am: RP reports finding a poster with a burn mark. Report generated.
Suspicious Activity Scribner Library 3:03pm: RP calls to report male sleeping in the library. Disp. Officers who spoke with visitor. Report made.
Suspicious Odor Wait Hall 5:35pm: Officer reports a suspicious odor. Report generated.
Parking-Other Sussman Apartments 8:00pm: RP reports a Driving Complaint. Officer generated report, spoke with students.
College Violation-Noise Wilmarth Hall 11:20pm: RP called to report a noise complaint. Officer spoke with subjects and they complied.
College Violation-Noise Sussman Apartments 11:55pm: RP called to report a noise complaint. Officers report large gathering. Report generated.
Saturday March. 28
College Violation-Noise Kimball Hall 2:04am: RP reports a noise complaint. Dispatched Officer who reports loud talking.
Fire Alarm-Other Sussman Apartments 1:17pm: Fire alarm received. Officers, Maintenance and SSFD responding. Occupant advises alarm due to burnt food. All responding units advised.
Parking Vehicle Issues-Other Case Center Lot 4:49pm: RP states a vehicle has been idling in the parking lot for several hours. Officer removed keys, locked the car and notified the owner.
Fire Alarm-Accidental Sussman Apartments 11:05pm: Fire Alarm received. Dispatched Officers, Maintenance and notified S.S.F.D.
Sunday March. 29
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 12:08am: RP reports an odor of Marijuana. Officer reports no Marijuana odor present; however, did observed a jar of potpourri in the room that may have caused the odor.
Propped Door Wiecking Hall 12:40am: Officer locates propped door. Door was secured.
Criminal Mischief McClellan Hall 2:33am: Officer reports damage to walls in the East and West Stairwell. Damage appears to have been done by punching holes in the wall. Damage recorded. Report made.
Criminal Mischief Wilmarth Hall 3:17am: Officer reports a hole in the wall in the basement. Damage recorded. Report made.
Theft of Services Case Center Parking Lot 1:40am: RP reports dropping off 5 students at Case Center and when asked for payment; only received partially payment and students fled. Officers met with and interviewed RP. One student located and SSPD contacted at RP’s request. Student made full restitution. No charges filed.
Moving Violations Sussman Apartments/Perimeter Road 2:44am: Officer reports taxi cab driving recklessly. Report made. Company contacted.
Welfare Checks Howe/Rounds 1:31pm: RP wishes a welfare check on his student. Officer dispatched, student located and will contact parent.
Suspicious Activity Scribner Library 5:47pm: RP reports suspicious activity in the library and requests an officer. Officer dispatched. Report made.
Fire Alarm-Other Sussman Apartments 8:56pm: Fire alarm activation received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance dispatched and advised SSFD. Resident called and reported alarm was due to cooking fumes.
Fire Scribner Library 9:30pm: Officer reports pants caught fire from bonfire ember. Pants extinguished report made.
Monday March. 30
Larceny from Motor Vehicle West Lot 1:44PM: RP reports vehicles had back windshield wipers stolen. Disp. Officer. Report filed.
Aggravated Harassment Filene Men’s Room 4:40pm: RP reports a swastika had been drawn on the wall of the men's room. Disp. Officer. Report filed.
Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 7:19pm Fire alarm received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Student called stating alarm was due to cooking.
Suspicious Odor Wait Hall 9:36: RP reports suspicious odor in the basement. Disp. Officers who report locating the source of the odor. All present admitted to smoking. Report made.
Tuesday March. 31
Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 1:30am: Fire alarm received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Alarm due to cooking.
Maintenance-Life/Safety Dana Science 11:28am: RP called there has been a chemical spill. The room has been evacuated, vents turned on and the chemical spill response team is in route. RP further states the Environmental Health and Safety Officer is on scene. Disp. Officer. Report made.
Suspicious Odor Penfield Hall 3:02pm: RP advises a gas odor was reported. Disp. Officer who reports locating an odor of gas. HVAC on scene. Situation rectified. Report made.
Suspicious Activity North Broadway 6:23pm: RP reports a female who appeared to be in distress. Disp. Officers and notified SSPD. A thorough search of the area was conducted by all Officers to no avail. All surrounding Police Agencies were made aware of this report.
Sex Offense- Forcible On campus 9:30am Received a report of sexual assaulted that occurred on campus. Report made.
Wednesday April. 1
Fire Campus Grounds 5:25pm: RP called to report a trash can fire outside the main entrance of Wait. Disp. officer and Maintenance. Fire extinguished. Report made.
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 9:43pm: RP reports an odor of incense. Disp. Officer who is unable to determine the source of the odor. Odor dissipated.
College Violation-Noise Wait Hall 11:54pm: RP reports excessive noise from group of people. Officers dispatched report group dispersed upon their arrival.
Thursday April. 2
Moving Violations Sussman/Northwoods Apartments Roadway 12:35am: Officer reports taxi cab vehicle driving wrong way on Sussman and Northwoods villages. Report made. Supervisor contacted and advised.
College Violation-Noise Cane Crossing 10:30pm: RP called to report a noise complaint. Disp. Officer who spoke with subjects and will keep the noise down.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
Falstaff’s is currently one location on campus that has relatively no student use during the day. There is a chance though that by the end of the semester that this will change. “At the moment, Falstaff's gets almost no daytime use, so we would love to open it up so that all students can get some utility out of the space that is supposed to belong to them and that they are all paying to maintain,” said Kyle Salzman ’15 Falstaff’s Operating Committee (FOC) Chair.
The members of FOC are currently working at exploring some possible ways at making it possible to keep Falstaff’s open during the day. “One thing that is in the works is adding a card swipe to the front door to make it easier for students to access the space,” said Salzman. Currently the only way to unlock Falstaff’s is to call campus safety and ask them to come unlock it.
The committee is looking into creating some sort of Falstaff’s supervisor, a student employment position. This person would simply hang out in Falstaff’s all day. This position would be needed in order to have Falstaff’s open during the day because “we can't simply open up the space without this sort of supervision, as we have already had some problems with vandalism in the space,” said Salzman.
Ideally a pilot program testing daytime hours for Falstaff’s will be started by the end of the semester.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
Today, April 2, at 12:00 AM, voting opened for many of next year’s Student Government Association (SGA) positions. The open positions include all spots on SGA Executive Committee, Inter-Class Council, and class senators. In this election there are 29 students running.
Posters are being hung, and candidates are making sure the rest of the student body knows their platform, but many students are still wondering who exactly is running for each position. With this in mind here is an official list of everyone running:
Executive Committee Candidates
President: Charles Tetelman ’16
Executive Vice President: Orr Genish ’17
Vice President for Student Life: Charlotte Morse ’17
Vice President for Academic Affairs: Megan Schachter ’17
Vice President for Financial Affairs: Julia Elstein ’17 and Julian Finnegan ’18
Vice President for Inclusion and Outreach: Dorothy Parsons ’17 and Ricky Rios ’ 18
Vice President for Programs and Engagement: Renato Dornelas ’ 18
Vice President for Club Affairs: Luca Mobilia ’ 17
Senior Class Council
President: Miles Calzini ’ 16
Vice President: Cindy Lan ’ 16
Financial Officer: Ramsey Daniels ’ 16
Junior Class Council
President: Madison Plummer ’ 17
Marketing Officer: Bernice Langyintuo ’ 17
Sophomore Class Council
President: James Galardi ’18, Sara Jog ’18, and Rachael Thomeer ’18
Vice President: Nosheen Hotaki ’18 and Tayloer Salvatore ’18
Marketing Officer: Alison Ungaro ’ 18
Financial Officer: Hannah Miller ’18
Sophomore Unity Officer: Morgan Chanon-Smith ’18 and Olivia Golden ’ 18
Sophomore Events Officer: Leah Schwaikert ’ 18
Senator: Denise Alacrcon ’18, Woeser Dolma ’18 and Tayler Salvatore ’18.
Other Positions
Speaker Bureau Chair: Elizabeth Reisen ’ 16
Remember that today is voting day, and it is not to late for you to go and vote for who you want to represent you next year.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
Recently the official academic year calendar for next year (2015-2016) came out. The calendar is very similar in many ways to this year’s calendar but there were some major changes; the fall study day was removed and classes will be held on Yom Kippur (the holiest day in the Jewish calendar).
This change was made for a number of reasons. First, the 2015 holidays fell in such a way that caused Skidmore to have a late start to the semester and an early end. “This required us to add an additional Wednesday and Friday in order to ensure compliance with New York State contact hour requirements,” said Bill Lewis, the chair of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP).
To add an additional Friday to the calendar, the fall study day was removed. To add the additional Wednesday to the calendar, the decision was made to hold classes on Yom Kippur. “We made this change [holding classes on Yom Kippur] with much more reluctance than we did the change to study break. This is because, unlike the study day change, the loss of Yom Kippur will differentially impact members of our community who wish to spend this holiday with family and or with their religious community,” said Lewis.
Had these changes not been made to the calendar, then students would not have been able to leave until as late as Dec. 24. “These decisions were made as a last resort and only after all other options were evaluated by CEPP and by the Administration,” said Lewis.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
On the Friday before spring break, March 13, a readmission hearing was held for a sexual assault case that happened in April of 2014. On Wednesday, March 25, the results of the hearing were announced by reporting student, Reina Kiefer ’17, who released a statement on Facebook with the results of the hearing.
Kiefer shared the following:
Hi everyone,
My apologies for the delay. I did hear from the board today. They determined that he is not ready to return to the rigors of the Skidmore community. He has been suspended for the following two years, but has the opportunity to request another readmission hearing in the spring of 2017 to reapply for the fall semester of 2017, after I've graduated. Although their decision feels a bit incomplete, it is certainly a victory. I'm so thankful for everyone who supported me throughout this difficult process. This truly would not have been possible without all of you.
Thank you, Reina
Andrea Wise, Director of Media Relations, provided the Skidmore News with the following statement (she has given this statement to all press who have inquired today), when asked for comment on the decision.
Skidmore College remains firmly committed to maintaining a safe environment for our students and to policies that are fundamentally fair. Federal privacy laws and institutional practice—which are designed to safeguard student confidentiality and the integrity of our hearing process—prohibit public comment on cases that are being handled in the campus conduct system.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
Over the past few months, the Student Government Association (SGA) has been reviewing the Skidmore Polo Club (Skidmore News has previously reported on the situation in two articles, published earlier this academic year, that can be found here and here), but as of March 8, SGA has come up with a proposal.
The eight parts to the proposal are as follows:
1) For the next 4 academic years, the Skidmore Polo Club will continue as an SGA-affiliated club, and it will receive a $30,000 budget from SGA during that time. The budget is not eligible to be increased at any time for any reason, and the club will not be eligible to receive supplemental funding allocations at any time.
2) The team and its alumni will immediately begin the process of transitioning the program to an independent 501(c)(3). SGA will work in coordination with the Offices of Advancement and Leadership Activities, in addition to the team, to assist in this transition. By June 1, 2019, the team must be fully transitioned to this independent organization. SGA will amend the Polo Club’s charter to transition the Club to an unbudgeted status. SGA will administer the Polo Club's endowment, and transfer the annual interest from the endowment to the 501(c)(3), but no funding from the Student Activity Fee will be allocated to the Polo Club. The Polo Club will be eligible to receive administrative support and all other benefits associated with being a chartered club from both SGA and Skidmore College and will be able to compete on behalf of the Skidmore.
3) Mr. Orthwein and/or other willing and able supporters of Skidmore Polo will enter into a legally binding agreement with SGA, the Office of Advancement, the Office of Finance & Administration, and the Office of Leadership Activities. These supporters will act as guarantors and agree to cover any expenses above $30,000 that the team is unable to cover through its fundraising activity.
4) SGA may be willing to establish a contingency fund to cover unexpected costs throughout the next four academic years in case of emergency to ensure that, in the event Mr. Orthwein is unable to perform the terms of the contract, emergency and/or horse care related expenses will be paid. In the event that the contingency fund is utilized, the Polo Club will be automatically dechartered. The debt must be covered, in full, by the end of each fiscal year.
5) SGA will require the Polo Club to increase its endowment to $200,000 by June 1st, 2018, and $300,000 by June 1st, 2021. SGA will administer the endowment in conjunction with the Office of Advancement and the Office of Leadership Activities. This is to create a sustainable source of revenue for the team that is dependent on neither a continuous donor base nor SGA’s willingness to fund the team.
6) Any other applicable requirements set forth by the Offices of Advancement, Student Affairs, and Finance & Administration to allow the team to compete on behalf of Skidmore College.
7) The SGA Senate will empower the SGA President, Vice President for Financial Affairs, and Vice President for Club Affairs to enter into a legally binding contract on behalf of SGA that satisfies the agreed upon terms with the Polo Club and its leaders, those individuals acting as guarantors, and Skidmore College via relevant offices and administrators.
8) SGA retains the right, by a 5/6th majority vote by the SGA Senate, or by a determination of the SGA Judicial Board, to revoke the Polo Club’s charter for any reason afforded to those bodies by the Student Body Constitution or applicable SGA policies.
If the following conditions or events were to occur, it would trigger an automatic dechartering of the Skidmore College Polo Club:
This proposal was brought up for discussion at SGA’s weekly Senate meeting on Tuesday, March 10. It is currently unknown when, or if there will be a vote on this proposal. SGA President Addison Bennett ’16 commented, “I continue to hope that we will soon reach a point where all parties agree on a workable solution that ensures we are taking care of the financial risks, the administrative involvement, and the long term future of the program.”
By Allison Trunkey '18
Last week, March 1-6, Skidmore celebrated Africa Focus Week, promoted by African Heritage Awareness Club (AHA). The Club hosted several events, namely the Taste of Africa Potluck on Wednesday a documentary showing of Mo & Me in the library on Thursday, and a public discussion of the spiritual practice, Voodoo, and a dance at Falstaff on Friday.
These events celebrated the nuance and beauty of African cultures, and sought to highlight the development of international recognition of African and Afro-Caribbean influences. As the week advanced, AHA events related progressively more to our own campus: Wednesday’s potluck celebrated rich African flavors and cooking traditions, Thursday’s documentary remembered a significant African icon who brought global recognition to African peoples, and Friday’s spiritual discussion and dance integrated African traditions directly into student life.
Thursday’s documentary, Mo & Me, follows Salim Amin’s poignant exploration of the life his father, Mohamed “Mo” Amin, influential Kenyan photojournalist and martyr. Amin exposed the suffering of the 1983 Ethiopian Famine to a global audience, prompting Live Aid’s “We Are The World” response, and launching him into worldwide prominence that lasted through his coverage of Idi Amin’s Uganda, and until his untimely death in a hijacked Ethiopian plane in 1996. For examples of Amin’s work, visit here, and for information on charity work done in his honor, visit here.
AHA Club, as it says on their Facebook page, is dedicated to increasing “awareness of African cultural practices and diaspora by sharing knowledge among the Skidmore and Saratoga Springs community” through interactive events and discussions. The Skidmore campus regularly offers opportunities to celebrate its own cultural diversity, and this focus week joins the ranks of past focus and awareness weeks organized through the Office of Student Diversity, including Culture Fest, Coming Out Week, Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month, and Black History Month.
By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor
On Thursday March 5, voting began for the New Student Constitution created by the Skidmore Student Government Association. The new constitution was created with the hope that “it will allow us [SGA] to more effectively do our job of creating programs and supporting the policies that build our vibrant campus life,” said SGA President Addison Bennett ’16.
To boost voting turnout, SGA offered many incentives, including giving out free hot chocolate at a voting station in Case, handing out free pens and entering all students who voted into a raffle for gift cards to Chipotle and the Skid Shop. A final incentive to get people to vote was the announcement that the residential dormitory or apartment complex with the highest percentage of voters would win a prize. SGA's push to encourage voting was necessitated by a self-imposed minimum turnout of 800 students. “In most regular elections, we get between 400 and 600 votes, so we wanted to raise the bar a bit, challenge ourselves to get more student voice, and show that this constitution is actually supported by a large amount of students,” Bennett said.
On Friday March 6, at the final show of Rey and Lemay, a comedy sketch group by seniors John Lee-Rey and John Lemay, Bennett and SGA Vice President for Financial Affairs Sam Harris ’15 went to the microphone. They mentioned how their original plan was to come up here and ask everyone to vote, but that they no longer needed to do that because they were proud to announce that 850 people had voted and that the constitution had passed. The constitution passed with 95.5% of the voters being in favor of the new constitution. The new constitution will go into effect the first weekday following this year’s commencement, May 18.
Friday Feb. 27
College Violation Wait Hall 12:09am RP reports a group of people being loud. Officer dispatched reports people were gone on arrival.
College Violation Penfield Hall 1:08am: RP reports a group of people being loud. Officer dispatched report students advised to quiet it down. They complied.
Accident Campus Grounds 11:16am: RP called stating she fell and injured herself on a campus walkway. Disp. Officer who took a report and filled out an accident report. Advised Grounds who salted the walkway.
Suspicious Activity Sports Center 6:00 PM: RP called to report a male acting in a suspicious manner. Disp. Officers who requested assistance from S.S.P.D. S.S.P.D. en route and subject was arrested.
Larceny From Buildings Penfield Hall 5:32 PM RP in office to file a report of larceny. Report taken.
College Violation Willmarth Hall 9:33 PM: RP reports loud music. Disp. Officer reports subjects will turn music down.
Saturday Feb. 28
Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 12:27 AM: Fire alarm. Disp. Officers and Maintenance and advised SSFD.
College Violation Dayton Drive 1:10 AM: RP reports loud music. Officers dispatched.
Disorderly Conduct Spa 1:30 AM: RP states a male was yelling and screaming. Dispatched Officers report subjects separated and issue resolved.
Dating Violence Jonsson Tower 1:50 AM: RP reports people arguing. Officers dispatched. Non-student escorted off campus. Report taken.
College Violation Cane Crossing 2:47 AM: RP complained of loud noise. Officers dispatched.
College Violation Wait Hall 2:49 AM: RP complained of loud noise. Officers dispatch.
Fire Alarm Starbuck Center 7:20am: Fire alarm activated. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD.
Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 7:00 PM: Fire alarm. Officers, Maintenance and SSFD dispatched. Alarm due to smoke from cooking.
Graffiti Wiecking Hall 9:41 PM: RP reports graffiti on the second floor. Housekeeping dispatched.
Sunday March 1
College Violation Moore Way 1:08 AM: RP reports a noise complaint. Dispatched Officer reports loud music. Volume lowered.
College Violation Penfield Hall 2:09 AM: RP reports loud noise. Dispatched Officers report loud talking. Voices lowered.
College Violation Kimball Hall 2:18 AM: RP reports loud noise. Dispatched Officers report group of students talking. Voices lowered.
Falsely Reported Incident McClellan 2:59 AM: fire alarm. Dispatched Officers, Maintenance and contacted SSFD. Cause of activation due to false activation of pull station.
Fire Alarm Whitman Way 4:45AM: Fire alarm activation. Officers, Maintenance and SSFD advised. Cause determined to be from cooking error.
Criminal Mischief Wiecking Hall 12:35PM: Officer noticed fire door broken. Spoke with adjacent residents. Report generated.
Monday March 2
College Violation Dinning Hall 04:35 PM: RP called to report subjects smoking at the top of the stairs and when advised the smoking area is at the bottom of the stairs they became belligerent. Disp. Officer who reports no one in area at this time. GOA.
Fire Alarm Moore Way 7:15 PM: Fire alarm received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Student called stating alarm due to cooking.
Criminal Mischief Dana 6:19 PM: RP states suspicious activities occurring in some labs and would like periodic checks. Notified Officers.
Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 9:32 PM: Fire alarm received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD.
Suspicious Odor Wait Hall 8:30 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor. Disp. Officers who report subjects GOA.
Tuesday March 3
College Violation Moore Way 12:06am RP reports loud base. Officer dispatched.
College Violation Cane Crossing 12:18am: RP reports loud music. Officer dispatched and advised resident to lower volume.
College Violation Penfield Hall 1:21am: RP reports people being loud. Officer dispatched.
Suspicious Activity Dana 9:25am: RP to report of a couple of suspicious incidents. Disp. Officer. Report made.
Wednesday March 4
College Violation Penfield Hall 1:34am - Report of loud noise. Officer reports students playing tag. They have now dispersed. Area quiet at this time.
Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 10:47 PM: RP called to report a suspicious odor. Disp. Officer who was unable to determine the source of the odor at this time. Odor dissipated.
Thursday March 5
Graffiti Penfield Hall 9:14am: RP reports graffiti on a poster. Disp. Officer who took photos and report made.
Thursday night at the Spa was a memorable one. A variety of clubs dedicated to improving the local and broader community were represented at Skidservice Celebration on March 5, 2015. This event was sponsored by the Office of Community Service programs and NRHH, the National Residence Hall Honorary. Free pizza was served and tickets were handed out to all purveyors for entrance into a Chipotle raffle. Live performances by some of Skidmore’s best talent, including the Accents, the Stomping Soles, Rithmos, Ujima, AKT, and the Gospel Choir entertained a crowd curious about what community outreach opportunities our campus has to offer.
Julia Diamond ‘15, a sociology major, was at the event to share information about Fight Club. Fight Club is a campus mediation service provided by students trained in conflict resolution strategies. They offer a safe and confidential space for their fellow peers who are going through difficulties in their interpersonal relationships and would like to come to a resolution. Said Diamond, “I just love watching people work through things logically and knowing that I helped them do that.”
Students participating in one of this year’s Alternative Spring Break programs called Safe Passage were present at the Celebration to fundraise for their service trip to Guatemala, as well as to recruit any individuals interested in participating in the future. In March of 2015, a handful of volunteers will be journeying to this South American country to mentor 4th and 7th grade Guatemalan children through an afterschool program. They have been meeting regularly throughout the spring semester in preparation for their trip; during these meetings, the volunteers have been planning lesson plans for the children. Jessa Henschel ‘17, a psychology major, shared her excitement about being able to reach out. Said Henschel, “We’re going to be doing team building activities, leadership activities, and teaching some of our own skills to the kids.” They are still fundraising for the trip and have a place online for supporters to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/Skidmoreinguatemala
Club members from Skidmore’s branch of UNICEF were promoting an iPhone app called the UNICEF Tap Project. This app tracks how much you play with your phone, and donates a day’s worth of clean water to deprived areas for every fifteen minutes you don’t touch your device. Jamie Scherzer ‘17, studio art and business double major, vice president of UNICEF, spoke about how much of a difference a little more clean water can make in some places. Scherzer explained, “Water-borne diseases are a huge problem. Sometimes all people have access to is really dirty water and they get ill from it. Also, governments in some countries that have water crises are making water a private utility, and so they’re putting even more restrictions on the access to local clean water.” To learn more about the Tap Project and to download the app, visit http://www.unicefusa.org/mission/survival/water/tap-project.
Jingling Zhang ‘17, a psychology and business double major, is a member of NRHH who was at the Celebration. Zhang said, “I think Skidmore has a lot of community service clubs, and some of them I had never known before. I definitely checked out some new clubs tonight.”
Other clubs that were represented at the Skidservice Celebration were Saratoga Mentoring, Big Brothers Big Sister, Feel Good, Benef-Action, Her Campus, Active Minds, Newman Club, and Feedmore.
By Jacob Reiskin '17, Co-Editor-In-Chief
This article marks the beginning of a multi-week series that will detail sexual assault and the conversation surrounding it at Skidmore. This first week will focus on the College's protocol for responding to sexual misconduct, including its reporting and hearing process. In the coming weeks, my co-editor, Billie Kanfer, and I, will publish on a weekly basis, articles addressing the handling of sexual misconduct.
First, I want to detail the process, as David Karp, Assistant Dean of Campus Life and Mariel Martin, Director of Student Diversity Programs/Title IX Deputy Coordinator outlined to me.
Once a student files a case of sexual misconduct with a source obligated to report (such as Campus Safety), whether it be an inappropriate note or a rape, the report is sent to Martin. Her job is to enforce Title IX law, which was created and is overseen by the federal Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The law is intended to eliminate gender discrimination at institutions of higher education. To uphold the law, Martin is responsible for investigating any incident. She explained, “A trained partner and I act as neutral fact finders.” Both Martin and Karp are trained in investigating sexual assault and receive training at least one a year.
The investigation is a very in-depth process that will go as far as evidence allows. Sometimes victims do not say enough to conduct a full investigation; therefore, ending investigations quickly. However, if victims are forthcoming, then all relevant people, including witnesses and the person accused are interviewed. If hard evidence exists—such as a rape kit, cellphone records, or door swipe records—it is collected. All of this information is then compiled into an investigation report which will eventually be handed over to the sexual misconduct committee in advance of a hearing. The report will highlight agreements and disagreements between the reporting individual (student making a claim) and the responding individual (student that has been accused). Both students are allowed to voice their opinions on the report prior to the hearing. By highlighting these agreements and disagreements, the hearing board is better able to question the reporting and responding students when the hearing occurs.
In any case of sexual misconduct, the goal of the policy is to stop the behavior, especially if the reporting student reports repeated abuse. The second goal is to “remedy the behavior,” meaning that reporting (and responding) students should be guided through the aftermath of an event, whether they need counseling, law services or other help, including housing relocation or class changes. The last goal is to prevent the behavior from happening again, so if necessary, students are removed from campus before hearings occur. This also explains why green posters go up on campus, so students can be aware that misconduct is happening and that the college is responding. These posters are required by the Cleary Act in order to make sure students are aware of dangers on campus so that they can take action to protect themselves; such as locking their doors or avoiding dangerous situations.
To achieve these three goals, there will be a hearing where both students are allowed to voice their concerns. The hearing board is made up of trained faculty who have been selected through a willingness-to-serve process. Martin noted that all members undergo a six-week intensive training process in the fall. In addition, as of October 2014, students are allowed to have a lawyer (or any advisor, friend, counselor they choose) present in the hearing room, so long as the lawyer does not speak—this would make the hearing too much like a court case. Students are also allowed specific accommodations. For example, if they desire, students are not forced to look at each other during the hearing. A screen can be placed between the reporting and responding sides of the room. These hearings tend to be incredibly adversarial because according to David Karp, “nearly 100% of responders deny responsibility.”
This leaves the board in a tough place. “Most cases come down to word vs. word,” Martin said. So to find students responsible, the boards use a preponderance system. Students can be found responsible beyond reasonable doubt (99.9% sure), clear and convincing (75% sure), or confident (51% sure). The board, after deliberation, reaches a level of confidence to determine culpability, but does not share their confidence level with either student. However, even if a student is found responsible at the lowest level, only 51%, they are still assigned sanctions the same as if they had be found responsible beyond reasonable doubt, a standard practice dictated by the Justice Department. As a comparison, the U.S. justice system must find those charged guilty beyond reasonable doubt in order to convict. This is important to understand because these hearings are not court cases. Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun underscored that the objective in these cases is simply to establish whether a responding individual has violated Skidmore’s code of conduct. “We are establishing responsibility by the lowest standard, which has been critiqued, but we are trying to find a basic breach.”
If students are found responsible, they are assigned sanctions by the hearing board, although Calhoun is responsible for reviewing suggestions of suspension and expulsion. As explained in the sexual misconduct policy:
Sanctions preserve individual and institutional safety and integrity and, whenever possible and appropriate, help offenders repair the damage to the individual and community for which they have been found responsible. Individuals found to be in violation of sexual and gender-based misconduct offenses involving penetration will likely face a recommended sanction of suspension or expulsion. Individuals found to be in repeat violation for sexual and/or gender-based misconduct offenses will likely face a recommended sanction of suspension or expulsion.
When asked about whether students should be expelled for all violations of misconduct (as Student Government Association President Addison Bennett suggested in his recent open letter), Calhoun responded with ambivalence: “The big question is what should we do [to respond to those found guilty of sexual misconduct] and we don’t have an answer at this time.” She continued, “I’m taken by how varied the answer is in our community… there is an assumption that all victims want a bright line. It’s a very nuanced issue though.” She explained, “it’s discussed in a very binary way, but when we have conversations in the community, it’s not this.”
When asked what the chief misconceptions of sexual misconduct are, Martin responded, “why are institutions of higher education handling this?” Martin explained that members of the Skidmore community are always held accountable to the code of conduct and when they violate it, they are held liable, whether it be rape or theft. Students always have a right to file outside complaints and students will do what’s best for them. Although, responding individuals may be better off having their cases heard on campus. As Karp said, “the criminal justice system does not often [file] charge[s] because there is no evidence.” This stresses why Title IX boards are so important: They pose the only real likelihood of consequences for perpetrators of sexual misconduct. Martin made clear that students are encouraged to file complaints with outside bodies if they desire and that the school will direct reporting students to whomever they would like to talk to, including the police. She stated that “for some, not filling complaints may be the best option, for others, it’s pursuing their case through the justice system.” She put her role best: “my job is make folks aware of the options and resources.” And she emphasized, “this is an administrative policy that is well vetted and up to par with all federal standards.”
After spring break, we will publish the next piece on individual stories of sexual assault and how the hearing process worked out. We hope this series encourages discussion of this incredibly important issue.